Improvement in peat-machines



UNITED STATES cheapen the manufacture. consistsin a continuousl press, by which suicient water is squeezed from the peatl to bringl .into the required shape.

' the material cut upon the elevator c.

moves in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and deposits the peat upon the PAT-ENCI: OFFICE.

` l-MPRQVEM'ENT IN FEAT-MACHINES.

specification forming part Qf Letters Patel-:t No. naamw, dated April es', 1874; application ined l AMami 9, 1814.

To all whom vit may concern:

.Be it knownv that I, DAVID AIKMAN, of the (lo-hereby that the following is. full, clear, and

exact description of the' same.

This invention has reference. to improvement-s on machinery used for manufacturing Al'ieat-fuel, to reduce the amount of manual labor, facilitate the operations of drying, and My invention also it to the proper consistency for manufacturing .In the drawings hereunto annexed, where similar letters ofreference indicate like-parts,

Figure 1 represents line-diagramshowing general arrangement of mechanism in the posi- .tion of side elevation. Fig. 2 represents a plan of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a general view of stick-catcher press and pug-mill, in the position of side elevation. Fig. 4 reprevsents aplan of press and pug-mill. Figs.'5

and 6 represent details of press-bag. Figs. 7 and 8 represent details, showing the construction of stick catcher and conveyer. Fig. 9 represents detail of chain.

Before proceeding farther with the description of my invention, I would remark that,in` the drawings theI invention will be delineated as placed .on board a scow, similar to those use d in wet begs, and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The scale is so small that a mere outline diagram can be given. y

It Will, however, be understood, that in dry bogs, or when it is desired, the parts/hereinafter described majT be arranged on a portable platform, capable of being moved and set in any required position. Letter ais the scow, in the forward portion of vvwhich, or at b, anyA suitable excavating-machinery is situated and arranged to deliver This Fig. 3. This conveyer is constructed, as shown more particularly in Fig. 7, of `two endless chains, y, passing over suitable chain-wheels f, the chains /having wooden boards orother suitable plates g attached to them, forming a.- surface on which the materialmay be carried.

This moves in the direction shown by the ar: rows in Figs. l and 3. At suitable intervals on these projections h are attached. stick-catcher, similar. in construction to thc conveyer d, above described, it being provided with projections k, arranged, as shown most clearly in Fig. 8, to pass between the projections h of the conveyer. lare pulley-wheels, and m a'guide arranged to keepthe movin g` Lsurface of c from dropping down and its projections k from raking the surface of d, while the pulleys Z attached to d are to prevent the surface of d being raised by vibration and caught by the'. projections la. u is a revolving drum, having projections o attached to it. These intermesh with the projections kin a similar manner to k. with h, in Fig. 8. TheI gear by which these parts are operated must be so arranged that the surface of e moves in the same direction as the surface of d next to it, but with greater velocity, causing the projections l1. and 7c to movein the same direction,

but the latter faster. By this means any sticks contained in the material will be caught by the projections k and separa-ted from the mass at the point where the projections o interlock with k. Bycausin g the former to move with greater velocity than the latter, the sticks will be removed from e, and,by centrifugal force, thrown into any suitable receptacle arranged to receive them. The material from 4which the sticks have been extracted is deposited upon a net, p, hereinafter more particularly described. It will, however, be seen in Fig. 2 that the conveyer e is not in a suitable position to drop the material onto the net,

being situated to one side, but an inclined spout or other contrivance may be arranged to obviate the difficulty.

We will now proceed to describe more particularly the arrangement of the net p (whichwill be constructed of strong cord worked over a 'tine mesh, thereby giving great strength,

and forming small openings) and other mechanism used in the operation of pressing. q are two endless iron bars, shown in 'side elevationl e is the Q y tance from one another.

in Fig. 3, and in plan in Fig. 4, in which it will be seen that they are set parallel to each other, and that the rounded double extremities are set concentrically with the chain-wheels fr and 'r' at each end. Y It will be also seen that these bars g converge on their upper side, and run for a considerable portion of their upper part comparatively closely and parallel to each other.v On these bars qpsmall carriages s are placed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and in` detail in' Figs. 5 and 6. Although, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, they only extend along a portion of the4 bars, it will be easily understood that they extend completely around each yof the bars q, being equal, and at a suitable distis a frame, having 'attached thereto three pulleys, u, to run on the top of the bar on its upperside, and apulley, v, to run underneath it. The pulleys u,

` while running on the upper side of the bar,

run on'its top edge, and while running on the under side, run on its lower edge. To the carriage t is pivoted at 'w a plate, fc, of the con guration shown in Figs. 5 and 6, serving not only as an attachment to the carriage, but

also as a link in the endless chains y. These, as shown in Fig. 3, extend around within the bars qand unite the-carriages together, passing over the chain-wheels 1' and r', either of which may be arranged in any suitable manner to intermesh or gear with the links ofthe chains. By preference, or as shown in the drawings, the chain-wheel 7' will be arranged to do this, so that by its 'rota-tion the chains will be caused to travel, and with them the carriages s. To the chains are attached what will be hereinafter called the-scissors. This is done inthe following manner: 0n the link z, made thick in the center, as shown in Fig. 9, is pivoted a double-ended eye, a', arranged to rotate freely on the pivot attaching it to the link z. To the projecting end of a is pivoted they extremity of the scissors b', arranged to rotate freely on the pivot. These scissors are pivoted together at the bottom, as shown at c', Fig.5. They are provided with edges similar to ordinary sciss0rs,and are of the proper length to reach between the bars q g at the widest space between them. A pair of these scissors is attached and situated between-l every second carriage s. They serve not only to cut up any small sticks which may be contained in, but

- also to prevent thepeat from running back on the net-work as it advances in the press, hereinafter described. It will be seen that, as these scissors travel around with the chain, when coming to the part where the bars q converge, they begin to drop from the horizontal position to which they have been stretched, and keep closing until they come to the parallel part. (Shown at 1in Fig. 4.) They will then have assumed the position shown' in Fig.

5, which they will retain until they come to 2, when they will again begin to open, and will be fully opened at or before the time of arrivin g over the center of the chain-wheel 1". By means of holes made in the backs of the scis- `or greater than the 'ter to freely escape. able trough or receptacle placed beneath it,|

sors, the net p, the width of which is equal to length of the scissors, is attached by lacing or other -suitable means, and to the edgeso t india-rubber or other analogous substance. These not'only'render the edges su'ciently rigid to hold the peat inthe net during the process of pressing, but also to iill the space between the pressing-surfaces, hereinafter described. By this it willbe seen that the endless,l netis continually traveling around with the chains y and scissors b', forming, at the l same time, a bag in the upper center part, the

l one end of which closes and the other opens as the motion of the network-proceeds.v The v press, acting upon the peat placed by the conveyer d in the bag of the net p, just above described, is arranged inthe following manner:

e are chain-wheels, situated on\eithe'r side of the bag, ata suitable distance, for the pury poses hereinafter mentioned, and these are arranged to receive upon them endless chains, similar in construction to those used in what is called the railroad horse tread-mill. To these are attached batteus, like those used in the above-named machines, the position being such that the battens will be vertical, the faces of which, on their side toward the net p, are grooved lengthwise, with intervening spaces of about half an 'inch wide, and of' similar' depth. As shown in Fig. 4, the heavy black lines f indicate the vposition of these chains andbattens, it'being well understood that the supporting-rail and' pulleys existing in the .t above-named horse tread-mill are used inthis l case also.V Byreference to- Fig. 4, it will be seen that the surfaces of the press next to the bag of the net-work p are wider apart near the point 1, hereinbefore referred to, and converge as they approach the point 2. By this arrangement, the material contained in the net p enters freely at the end of the press nearest the point 1, and is squeezed as it appreaches the point 2, the parts being arrangedto cause the squeezing to be done with the required amountof force to give the peat the proper consistency on arriving at the point 2. The press is operated by gearing attached to` the axles of the .chain-wheels at the end nea-r the point 1. This gearing, together with .that

employed in moving the chain y and net p, must be so arranged that the two sides of the press and the net p, together with all the parts thereunto attached, will move with an equal y velocity. During the process of pressing, the

grooves in the battens, forming the surface of the press f', already described, allow the wa- This falls into any suit- I claim therein no invention. Inthis the peat is pulped, converting it into a homogeneous he net extending between the'- scissors are attached square beads d of ramena a mass. At the bottom of this pugmill, an orlof the tube t" in which the screw is situated.

This oriee is, by preference, made rectangular, but is not necessarily so. rlhis, if desired,

may be subdivided into any number of suitable spaces.

l would here pause. to observe that the action of the conveyer-screw h' 'assists or completes the work done in the pug1nill, and delivers the peat at the orifice above named in a compact mass, suiciently solid to handle,

and, by arranging a knife or other mechanism t0 pass down, or up and down, in front of the orifice, at suitable intervals, the material is cut into rectangular cubes of the required size.

I now return to the trough hereinbefore mentioned, placed under the press above described. Although I claim in it no invention, it may be well to give a further description of its construction and use, as, in the process of pressing, some of the iner and best particles of the peat are liable to be carried oft' in the Water. This trough is arranged with a spout, leading to a receptacle or sub-trough placed at a lower level. The top of this sub-trough is covered over, with any suitable material, to form a tlter for the Water to rise up through, while the peat is allowed to settle in the space below. This sub-trough will be arranged to be moved, emptied, and replaced Whenever a suftic'ent charge of peat has collected in it; or several sub-troughs, if desired, may be used in succession. The material so collected, having been suieiently filtered to separate the Water, Will be emptied into the pug-mill anzl y incorporated inthe general mass.'

What l claim as my invention is as follows:

1. The combination of the conveyer d', stickcatcher c, and drum n., constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as described.

2. The combination of the net p, constructed,

arranged, and operating substantially as del scribed, with the traveling pressing-sin'taces f', constructed substantially as described.

3. The combination of the bars q, carriages s, scissors b', and net p, all Working together, substantially as described.

4. The net-Work p, arranged substantially as described, to form a bag, closing at one end and opening at the other, as the net-work ad varices, substantially as and for the purposes described.

DAVID AlfKlfIAN.

Witnesses:

C. G. C. SIMPSON, lt. A. KELLOND. 

